Frye-Mueller drops lawsuit against Schoenbeck

PIERRE, S.D. (SDBA) -- Thursday, Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller (R-Rapid City) voluntarily dismiss her lawsuit against President Pro Tem Lee Schoenbeck (R-Watertown).

Wednesday, the Senate voted 66 to 1 to reinstate Frye-Mueller but also censured her and restricted her access to Legislative Research Council staff, interns, and pages.

Her suspension last week arose from a conversation about breastfeeding and vaccinations with an LRC staffer who is a new mother.

The staffer filed a complaint last week, and Republican Senate leadership immediately suspended Frye-Mueller pending hearings by the Senate Select Committee on Discipline and Expulsion.

In the lawsuit in Federal District Court in Pierre, Frye-Mueller alleged that her First Amendment and due process rights were violated and the rights of her District 30 constituents were violated by the suspension.

An email to Frye-Mueller’s attorney, former House Speaker Steve Haugaard, seeking comment, has gone unanswered as of mid-afternoon today (Thurs